WINNING IN A DEMAND-DRIVEN WORLD

In today's marketplace, it's becoming increasingly clear that the customer is firmly in control. To succeed, you must be demand-driven in everything you do. But how can you achieve this?

AMR Research has written extensively about what it means to have a demanddriven supply network (DDSN), speaking to the organizational, process, and technology aspects of the challenge. Leading demand-driven companies excel in these areas-and in responding to the unexpected.

In a similar vein, Gartner Group has recently written about the need for "chaostolerant processes," noting that a market leader "needs adaptive processes and empowered personnel to respond tactically and rapidly." Moreover, Gartner says, organizations should "focus technology spending on competitive differentiation achieved by mastering chaotic supply chain needs."

While most companies emphasize operational processes and technology spending to make their businesses run like clockwork, the reality is that they increasingly don't run like clockwork. Tomorrow's leaders, however, are making investments now to ensure they can excel in either situation.